Migrate Virtual Machines Between Different VMware Products

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Typically, you use VMware Converter to migrate virtual machines from other VMware products into your ESXi system. However, you can use the vmkfstools -i command to import virtual disks in 2gbsparse format into ESXi and then attach this disk to a new virtual machine you create in ESXi.

About this task

You must import the virtual disk first because you cannot power on disks in 2gbsparse format on the ESXi host.

Procedure

Import a disk in 2gbsparse format into the ESXi host by running the following command. Make sure to select the disk format compatible with ESXi.

vmkfstools -i <input> <output> -d <format>

Use the vSphere Web Client to attach the disk you imported to a virtual machine in ESXi.